X332340090210
by Brin
Summary: When one of the X5 group mysteriously falls dead, the other X5s must reunite to save themselves... from the expiration date. Their fight for life will bring them closer to Manticore than ever before... and closer to each other, too.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show Dark Angel, owned and created by James Cameron. I do, however, own any and all original characters appearing here. If you wish to use them, please ask me first.

Time Period: Before _Cold Comfort_.

Summary: When Zane falls dead without warning, the X5s discover that their days are numbered… literally.

A/N: Ever have a story poking at you for a long period of time? This one has been rolling around inside my head long enough to make me mad for not writing it down.

**332340090210******

by

Brin 

"Lydecker's the one guy that knows what's going on in this freak show body of mine... Whether or not this bar code has an expiration date. I guess I couldn't let him die with that secret." –Max, _Prodigy_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prologue

"Could you hand me the wrench?" asked a mechanic underneath a car as a pair of sneaker-covered feet walked into Jim's Car Shop.

"I need to talk to you," said the owner of the feet sternly. "It's important."

The mechanic slid out from underneath the red Porsche, revealing a oil-smudged face. "What, Zack?"

"Privately."

Sighing, the mechanic stood and wiped his hands on his pants. "I'm going for a little breather, Jim," he called.

"Alright, just don't be gone too long, Zane," replied Jim from the back room.

Zane looked at his big brother and rolled his eyes. "What do you want now?"

"Outside," said Zack pointedly.

They walked a few buildings down from the car shop, then abruptly veered off the main street into an empty alleyway.

"What do you want?" repeated Zane irritably.

"I had to send Lydecker to Asia 'cause he had a lead on you. What have you been doing?" growled the older X5. "Lydecker was just outside the city so I had to create a distraction and make him believe you fled to Asia. Do you know how hard that is?"

"Not to hard, since you're you," said Zane with a sigh. He began rubbing his temple, trying to get rid of the inevitable headache he got when Zack was around. "I haven't been doing anything wrong, Zack."

"Well, clean your act up a bit, soldier," barked the other X5 seriously. "If this happens again, you're going to move."

"Yes, sir," said Zane quietly. "Can I go now? If I have to work overtime I'll be late picking my latest girlfriend up from her job down at the bar and…"

"Fine," interrupted Zack. "Go. Just watch yourself."

Zane nodded and they went their separate ways; Zack going farther down the alley while Zane walked back out to the main street.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That evening, Zane hurriedly jumped into his pick-up and sped down to the town bar to pick up Janice. Or was it Janet? Or maybe Jennifer? He sighed and checked his reflection in the rearview mirror as he came to a halt outside the bar. No oil smudges.

Janice/Janet/Jennifer emerged from the bar a few minutes after he had arrived and got into the truck.

"Hey, Travis," she said, kissing him lightly. "Thanks for giving me a lift."

Zane watched her as she routinely flipped her blonde hair and checked her bright red lipstick in the mirror. "Good day at work?" He turned on the truck.

"Yeah," Janice/Janet/Jennifer replied distractedly.

As they drove down the dirty street towards Zane's apartment, Zane felt a funny feeling in the back of his throat. He peeked at the blonde in his passenger seat, then tried to figure out what was happening. This feeling persisted for a few minutes before it grew intense… and then Zane did something unexpected.

He coughed.

Immediately, alarms went off in his head. His foot slammed on the brakes and the truck screeched to a stop in the middle of the road.

"What is it?" asked Janice/Janet/Jennifer. "Travis?"

Zane stared at the steering wheel, his eyes wide with fear. "Get out. I have to go. I… I need to go! Get out!"

Alarmed, the blonde quickly got out of the truck. Before she could even close the door properly, Zane backed up and sped off the way they game like a maniac.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zane went to the nearest pay phone and dialed Zack's emergency number. His hands were shaking and he dropped his quarters more than once. As was the norm, the line rang twice and then a familiar voice answered, "Talk."

"Zack… Zack, something's wrong. I think you should get back down here." He coughed again, this time harder. "Something's real wrong."

"I'm three miles away. Be there in five minutes."

Zane stared at the phone as the line went dead, then let it drop and moved away from the phone to a bench nearby. His head began to hurt, and there were sharp pangs hitting him in the chest—as if someone was poking him with a needle. His vision blurred, then cleared, then blurred again over and over. Sweat beads rolled down his face. He rubbed his clammy hands together as a cold spell washed over him, immediately followed by a hot flash.

Then, unable to bear it anymore, Zane collapsed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zack arrived at the pay phone and almost immediately spotted Zane on a nearby bench. He cautiously walked over, stopping a few feet away from his brother in alarm in alarm. His upper body hung off the side of the bench. A pool of vomit with blood mixed in lay beneath his face. His breathing was ragged and his chest heaved, trying to get air.

"What… happened?" Zack gently helped Zane get the rest of his body on the bench and knelt next to his brother. As he turned the younger X5 older, he noted the swollen throat and chickenpox-like rash across the upper body.

"C…cold… I'm cold," whispered Zane. A trail of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, droplets of it pooling in the vomit underneath the bench.

Zack removed his leather jacket and put it on top of Zane, trying to smile. "You're going to be okay, little brother. It's just a cold," he said, but his voice broke as he said it. "Zane?"

A clammy hand reached out and grasped Zack's shoulder weakly. "The others… warn the others," he plead quietly. "The exp… expi…"

"No, no! Don't do this to me! Nothing has happened in ten years! Don't be the first!" cried Zack, a single tear running down his face.

Zane's eyes glazed over and his grip fell completely slack. The blood stopped dripping.

"Damn it, Zane!" Zack grasped his brother's shirt and angrily wiped the tears from his eyes. "What am I gonna tell everyone else?" He leaned his forehead against his brother's cold skin and allowed a rakish sob to escape his lips. Ten years, and none of them had been taken—by death or otherwise. And he didn't even know what had happened. There wasn't any sign of physical struggle, and X5s were immune to practically all diseases known to mankind. So what silent killer could take an X5 so quickly? And what was it that Zane had been trying to say? "Exp… Exp… Expi… Expir… Expiration?" Zack's eyes widened and he flipped Zane's body over to look at the barcode. He gasped.

Across the barcode, written in big stamp letters, was the word EXPIRED.


	2. These Four Walls

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show Dark Angel, owned and created by James Cameron. I do, however, own any and all original characters appearing here. If you wish to use them, please ask me first.

Time Period: Before _Cold Comfort_.

Summary: Zack doesn't know what to do, but who does a CO turn to when he's lost? Why, the second in command of course.

**332340090210******

****

by

Brin 

_You will not know where we have struck until you have fallen._ –**Halo**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 1: Four Walls, Five Shadows 

The miles seemed to melt away underneath the wheels of his motorcycle as he sped along, his gaze unwavering and focused on the road ahead. Icy cold rain pelted his helmet like ice droplets and soaked him to the bone. Twice already he had been chased by those flashing red and blue lights, but he took no heed of them and simply went faster. The farther he went, the worse the storm became, but he never slowed.

Zane was dead, and with him had gone all the comfort Zack had ever known. It was quite possible that all twelve who had escaped and himself might die the horrible, obviously painful death of his little brother. And that was just too unbearable to imagine.

In a matter of hours Zack reached his destination, San Francisco. Once in the heart of the city, he cruised through a densely populated area until he came to what was once a Holiday Inn, but was now an apartment building. He parked his bike and tied it to a light post, then casually strolled inside.

There was close to no security in the Inn. After the Pulse, nearly every major hotel chain across the nation had shut down or gone bankrupt. Where once you needed a special hotel room key to enter, now the door hung loosely off its hinges—allowing both human and animal alike inside without hindrance. Zack took full advantage of this—he didn't even touch the door as he entered, just slipped inside and ventured over to the fire escape stairwell.

From there, he went up two flights and exited into a dark, putrid hallway. The numbers on the doors had long since rotted away or fallen off on most of the doorways, but some still had their numbers hanging upside down or hanging by a thread; ready to fall off the next time the door was slammed. The carpet, once several shades of green and blue, was now a foul-looking brownish gray color. Little bits of metal and sharp, rusty nails dotted the floor, making it a perilous walk from one end of the hall to another.

Zack reached a door carelessly marked 210 in magic marker and, not bothering to knock, went inside.

As soon as he had taken a step past the door, a hand shot out of the darkness to punch him in the face. He easily caught the wrist connected to this hand and twisted it around, pulling his attacker towards him. "I told you to check before you try to knock someone's brains out," he whispered into her ear solemnly, then pushed her away from him.

"You ass!" shouted Jondy with a glare. "I told _you_ to knock before coming into someone else's house." She shoved him into the wall and got very, very close. "Now what are you doing here?"

Something behind Zack's eyes flickered, something Jondy couldn't explain and something she had never seen before. His lips parted just a bit, then he slowly told her, "Zane's dead."

Jondy took a step back, her big blue eyes widening. "What…?"

"He just… died. I had visited him earlier, and a few hours after I left he called me saying something was wrong. I got to him in less than five minutes, but he was half-dead by the time I got there and died in about thirty seconds. His throat was swollen and he had this rash across his chest."

"But… how is that possible?"

Zack shook his head. "I don't know. He had thrown up a few times before I got there, and blood was coming from his mouth. There was a rash across his chest… I've never seen anything like it. Besides that… his barcode was gone."

"Gone?!" Jondy took another step back. "What do you mean, gone?!"

"The word… EXPIRED replaced his barcode, Jon. He expired," explained Zack cautiously. "He reached his expiration date."

"Expiration date? Zack, you can't be serious. Tell me you're not serious," pleaded the female X5, tears glimmering in her eyes. "If that happened to Zane then… what about the rest of us?"

"I… I don't know," admitted Zack. "That's why I came here… I don't know what to do."

Jondy sighed and turned on the lights, revealing a messy living room. "Look, Zack, if we all have an… expiration date, then why was Zane the first to go? He's not the oldest, not the youngest; not the strongest, not the weakest… You think it's random?"

"Maybe." Zack watched her as she shoved a pile of clothes off her couch and sat down to think. "Jon, I think this isn't something that just the two of us can take care of. We're going to need everyone for this."

"Are you sure?" Jondy frowned. "_All_ of us?"

"Well, maybe not every single one of us… but we need Brin, Tinga, Ben, Max, Krit, and Syl."

Jondy's face lit up when he said Max's name. "Maxie? I get to see Maxie?"

"The eight of us were always the closest in the unit," explained Zack. "I have their phone numbers. I want you to call them and arrange a meeting, okay?" He pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and wrote down the numbers. "There are some things I need to do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dr. Tucson of the Tucson Health Studies Clinic was taking his time closing up that night. His wife was angry with him for spending a thousand dollars of their savings on lab rats (nowadays he only got ten for that price), and he was in no rush to get home. He locked up the supply cabinet, covered the surgery tables, and made sure all the windows were shut tight before heading towards the front door. Before he could open it, however, he heard a window shatter in the nurse's lounge. Alarmed, the doctor grabbed the emergency gun from the secretary's draw and went to investigate. He poked his head in the lounge and glanced around suspiciously. A pile of broken glass sat on the floor, but there was no one there. He moved farther into the room to see if someone had thrown a brick through the window, but when he was in the middle of the room he felt cold hard steel against the back of his neck.

"Don't move," ordered a harsh voice, skewed by a voice scrambler. "Drop your weapon."

CLANG! Tucson's gun dropped to the floor.

"Turn around, slowly. No sudden movements," continued the intruder.

Obediently, the doctor slowly turned around to face his attacker, who was wearing a black ski mask. Angry, confused eyes stared out at him from the holes in the cloth. "W-W-Who are you? What do you want?" demanded the doctor.

"Who I am is none of your concern. What I want is you to perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death for my friend here," he gestured to the body bag sitting on the ground behind him. "And I don't ever want to hear you speak of this incident. If you do, I'll kill you."

Dr. Tucson gulped and nodded. "Okay, I'll do it. Just don't kill me. I've got a wife and kids."

"Do what I say and we won't have a problem."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Jondy was a bit apprehensive about calling her family. She hadn't talked to many of them for ten whole years. What would they be like? What if they didn't remember her? What if they didn't turn out as good as she had hoped? The phone seemed to leer at her from its spot on the wall. She looked over the numbers, easily committing them to memory, then, after a few minutes of arguing with herself, she picked up the phone and dialed Krit's number.

The line rang four times before a sleepy voice answered, "'Lo?"

"Krit."

Silence.

"Who is this?" demanded the voice, suddenly very awake and agitated. "If this is some kind of joke…"

"It's Jondy."

"Jondy?" There was the sound of rustling fabric and the soft 'click' of a lamp being turned on. "How did you…?"

"Something's happened," she quickly explained. "Zane's dead."

"What are you talking about, Jon?"

"I don't have time to answer all your questions, Krit. You have to get down to San Francisco, _now_," said the female X5. "Zack sounded really scared, Krit. You've got to hurry."

"Alright, I'll be there in five hours, okay?"

Jondy was about to reply when she heard a sleepy, "Who is it?" in the background. "Krit? Is someone there?" asked the younger X5 carefully.

"It's just Syl," he said quickly. "Does she need to come, too?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, we'll be there."

"Thanks, big brother," said Jondy quietly. "See you soon."

"Bye."

The line cut off and Jondy hung up the phone. Two down, four to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zack returned to the apartment a couple hours later, covered in dirt and holding a soggy piece of paper in his hand. He took off his sodden jacket and hung it in the entryway closet before walking over to Jondy, who was leaning against the window with a blanket around her shoulders. Her blue eyes stared out at the city below as rain droplets slowly dripped down the cracked glass.

"Finish the calls?" asked the male X5, putting his hands on her shoulders. She nodded slowly, so he continued, "Everyone coming?"

"Yeah… but Ben didn't seem too happy about it," said Jondy quietly.

"I was going to talk to you about him," stated Zack. "Ben's… not quite how he used to be. When I sent him off on his own, he found too many questions he couldn't answer. Sometimes, he scares me with his unfailing faith. It's like he's not there anymore… he's just a shell of what used to be Ben."

"Then why'd you want him to come?"

"Because I was hoping that maybe being around us would help him out. He's lost, Jon… really lost."

Jondy sighed and leaned back against him. "Anything else I should know? About the others?"

"That's it." He paused for a moment, then continued, "I wish this could be under different circumstances."

"What? Zack, you never wanted us to get together. Too dangerous, remember?" Jondy turned around to face him. "You must be joking."

"No, I'm serious. Maybe, in a few years, when we were old and wise enough, I'd call a meeting like this. All thirteen of us. The twelve of you who escaped that night, then me," he explained with a small smile. "I don't _enjoy_ keeping you apart, Jon."

Jondy provided him with own of her own soft smiles, then she noticed the piece of paper in his pocket. "What's that?"

Zack pulled out the paper. "Zane's autopsy report. I buried him next to a water tower outside of the city… just like he wanted."

The female X5's eyes quickly took in the small print on the paper, then she handed it back. "Says he died of a virus."

"A virus resembling the flu, but very different. He suffocated on his own vomit, and his lungs were filling with blood. This is serious," Zack said gravely. "The rash on his chest was similar to smallpox, but not contagious."

"But we have antibodies to those diseases," protested Jondy.

"It's not a disease that this doctor has seen before."

"What about the word across his barcode?"

"The barcodes are genetic, so the only possibility is…" Zack let his voice trail off and raised an eyebrow.

"Manticore did it."


	3. Condemned

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show Dark Angel, owned and created by James Cameron. I do, however, own any and all original characters appearing here. If you wish to use them, please ask me first.

Time Period: Before _Cold Comfort_, slight AU

Summary: It's a family reunion—X5 style.

A/N: My friend Collin sent me all these quotes from the game Halo, and I thought they were pretty cool so I used them here. Regarding my other stories, I'm stumped on what I'm going to do with **Happily Never After** (yet a fateful email from _Hearns_ may have awakened my stupid muse) but I do have an idea for a sequel to _that_ involving my the Familiars. In fact, I've already written the first chapter. **Binge** is coming along nicely, but I just love this new story so much I've decided to continue it immediately.

A/N 2: **HOLY SHIT! **I'm on **_9_** peoples favorites list! *mouth drops to the floor in utter and complete disbelief* OMG! How did _that_ happen?! Did I mention how much I love you guys? Well, I love you guys! I feel so special! *cries with hysterical happiness*

A/N 3: Ha, this is getting annoying, ain't it? I'm sorry U_U, but I just wanted to mention I changed the title. This fic is going to be (almost) Maxless, because everyone else needs to have the spotlight once in awhile, right?

**332340090210**

****

by

Brin 

_These are the tygers of wrath._ **–Halo**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 2: Condemned

Jondy waited at the door of her building, leaning against the wall with her legs crossed at booted ankles. It was strangely quiet for a San Francisco morning, but she didn't take much notice. Puffs of steam billowed from her mouth. They rose high into the air, swirling and churning, then suddenly dissipated. The X5 was not lost on the potential analogy of this. Just three days ago, Zack had told her that Zane was doing fine; being successful. But, all of a sudden, he was gone. The feeling was a bit… surreal. Like this wasn't really happening. But happening it was, and the X5 steeled herself to deal with it.

She turned her eyes upward as the sound of a rumbling motor approached. A tiny red hard-top convertible turned down her street, blaring rock music as loud as it could possibly go.

The car parked behind a pile of rusted, twisted metal, and the doors opened. Two people wearing sunglasses stepped out. One of them was a dark-complexioned man with curly black hair and chiseled features. The other, a tall woman with silky blonde hair hanging down to her shoulders. When they spotted Jondy standing next to the door almost simultaneously removed their sunglasses and smiled.

"Jondy!" exclaimed Syl, running forward and embracing her sister.

"Hey, Syl," the younger X5 replied, grinning from ear to ear.

Krit stepped up, soft brown eyes glinting in the morning light. "Can I butt in?" He grinned as Syl stepped back and hugged Jondy tightly. "I can't believe how tall you are, little sister!" he teased, patting her on the head.

"Not so short yourself," she said with a laugh. "Go on upstairs. Zack is waiting. Second floor, apartment 210."

The two X5s nodded and disappeared inside the building, leaving Jondy alone once again. She wasn't alone for long, however, because soon two more cars turned down the street. One was a sleek silver Benz with doors that opened up instead of out. The other was a large maroon Suburban with Winnie the Pooh stickers on the windows. Slowly, the two vehicles found a secluded spot to park in. The first driver to get out was the Suburban's driver, an exotic beauty of a woman with long hair tied back in a French braid.

"Tinga," called Jondy. "Tinga, over here!"

The woman turned around and smiled when she saw Jondy. "Hey!" she trotted over and hugged the other X5. "Where's everyone else?"

"Up in the apartment. Who's in the Benz?" asked Jondy, suspicious that the driver hadn't gotten out yet.

"I think it's Brin." Tinga shrugged. "But there's someone else in there. I couldn't see who. It's a guy."

Jondy nodded as her big sister headed upstairs, her blue eyes fixed on the still car across the street. She waited a few moments and was about to approach the car when the door opened and two combat boots dropped out, followed by short legs, a slim body, and a round Korean face. Nope, there was no mistaking. That was Brin.

"Hey, slowpoke!" shouted Jondy, running over. "What were you doing in there?"

Brin turned around and broke into a grin. "Putting my shoes on," she joked, then looked over her shoulder at the car.

Jondy abruptly froze in her tracks as the passenger-side door opened and a tall man stepped out. He stood facing the other way for a few seconds, then turned around and pinned Jondy with a blank look. "Hey, Jon," he said, green eyes boring into her.

"Ben," she returned cautiously. "I thought you were taking a bus."

"Yeah, but who wants to ride in a stuffy, barely-working old shithole when you can ride in Brin's baby?" replied Ben, patting the silver car like a pet.

"Don't touch it!" shouted Brin, glaring at him. "Fingerprints!"

Ben disregarded her and started walking towards the building. "Alright, so where's the party?"

"We're still waiting for Max." Jondy shifted her weight nervously. "Why don't you guys go on up?"

"Sounds like a good idea. Come on, Ben," said Brin with a carefree smile. She either didn't notice Jondy's obvious discomfort, or didn't bother to acknowledge it.

"Apartment 210," said Jondy as they passed by her, arms interlinked like best friends. Jondy felt a icy shiver go down her spine as Ben turned his head to look at her with empty green eyes. She quickly glanced away, and he looked back at Brin as she started to say something.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Half an hour later, Max still hadn't shown up. She was late, and Jondy was getting extremely agitated. It wasn't like Max to be late, and this wasn't just showing up for a rendezvous during a practice mission. This was important. She shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, eyes fixed on the road. Ten years, and she was late. All of them together for the first time as adults, and she was late. It wasn't right.

After waiting twenty more minutes or so, the X5 gave up and headed upstairs. When she opened the door to her apartment, there was the sharp clicks of guns being cocked and everything froze. Jondy smirked at her siblings, all of whom had handguns trained on her forehead. She could feel the harsh red light warming the spot between her eyes and crossed her arms. "You can stop now," she said indignantly.

"Bang," joked Syl before putting her gun down. "Max arrived yet?"

"Nope," replied Jondy, shutting the door. She took off her jacket and unceremoniously tossed it on the floor. "So what have we got so far?"

Brin opened her mouth to reply, but Jondy's telephone began to ring as soon before she could get a word out. The X5s looked at the phone like it was going to jump out and bite their faces off, then Zack slowly went over and picked it up. "You've reached the number you've dialed," he said sternly.

"Zack, it's me," said the voice on the other end.

"Max," he returned. "Where are you?"

"I should've called you earlier, Zack. I can't make it," she said calmly.

"What do you mean? Max, this isn't something to mess around with. Why can't you come?" asked Zack, looking over his shoulder at his siblings and frowning. They frowned back.

"Look, I promised a friend I'd do a favor, okay? I'm sorry I can't make it," said Max distractedly.

"Fine, Max. Don't come. Be Logan's little slave. We don't need you," said the male X5 coldly, then hung up before she could reply. He turned and looked at Jondy. "Change your phone number."

"Sure thing," said Jondy quietly, her heart breaking into little pieces. "Why isn't she coming?"

"Because of a norm, Logan. He's got her on a leash. I hate him," growled Zack. "He's going to get her killed some day."

The other X5s nodded solemnly.

"Well, there's still seven of us," said Tinga, trying to lighten the mood. "We'll be able to manage without her."

Syl put her hand on Jondy's shoulder. "Maybe another time," she whispered, leaning her forehead against her younger sister's.

"Yeah," replied Jondy sadly. She felt so betrayed. A norm was more important to Max than her family? Why? Didn't Max understand that this was life or death? Didn't she care? "So… you were gonna tell me if we had anything to work with yet," she stated quietly.

Brin scratched the back of her neck and shrugged. "We know the 'virus' is genetic, because our barcode is genetic and so far nobody's been able to change it."

"And you missed my story," said Ben in a sultry voice.

"What story?" asked Jondy cautiously.

"Not the kind of story you're thinking of," replied the handsome X5. "I was telling everyone that I once overheard Lydecker giving a class to some of the guards assigned to us. One of the guards asked what would happen if we escaped, and good ol' 'Deck said something along the lines of, 'They wouldn't last more than fifteen years outside these walls. We've made sure of that'."

Jondy processed this information. "So it's all been planned."

"We think it's a safety precaution they took… just in case we escaped," declared Krit. "What we don't know, is how it works. Since Zane is the first to be taken, we know it's random."

"What was Zane's barcode?" asked Jondy, grabbing pencil and paper from her kitchen counter.

"332680074205," answered Zack, watching curiously as Jondy wrote the numbers down and stared at them for a few seconds.

"40," she announced. "Add up your barcodes, everyone."

The X5s did as they were told, and Jondy wrote down their sums on the paper.

**Brin – 40**

**Zack – 53**

**Syl – 31**

**Tinga – 44**

**Ben – 59**

**Krit – 39**

**Jondy – 27**

**Max – 44**

Jondy groaned, finding no pattern in the numbers.

"Wait… the first three numbers in Zane's code are 332," said Brin, the wheels turning in her head. "So who has 332 as the first three numbers?"

"Max, Krit, and Jondy," said Zack. "What does that matter?"

"Lydecker explained some of this to me once," announced the tiny X5. "The first three numbers stands for what batch. Zack is 330, the oldest, and Max is the youngest. Jack and Eva were the only biological twins of the group, so their barcodes are virtually the same. 331-065-661-417 and 331-065-661-766."

"This has to do with what?" asked Syl, her face tight with confusion.

"Well, that was just some information we might need later," admitted Brin with a shrug. "But moving on, Lydecker also said that whatever happens to one X in a batch, happens to all the rest of them not too long after, and in descending order. So, theoretically, the second oldest in the 332 batch is next." She bit her lip.

"Zane is the oldest in the 332 batch," stated Jondy quietly. 

"Who's second oldest?" Syl looked between Jondy and Krit worriedly.

"Jondy," whispered Krit.


	4. Barhopping

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show Dark Angel, owned and created by James Cameron. I do, however, own any and all original characters appearing here. If you wish to use them, please ask me first.

Time Period: Before _Cold Comfort_, AU.

Summary: The search for the cure begins.

A/N: **To Kyre-** I understand your point, and I just wanted to tell you that I had the X5s refer to Logan as a 'norm' to pointedly separate Logan from the X5 family (as dysfunctional as it is…). BTW, I used to have a friend named Kyre… in the 3rd grade… he was from Norway :-D Just a random fact ^_^

**332340090210**

****

by

Brin 

_Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jondy sat on her sunken-in couch, staring at the far wall blankly. A cup of water was gripped in her hand so tightly that it was on the verge of breaking, her knuckles stark white. Silent, still figures lay strewn about on the floor in sleeping bags or sheets that had been in the closet for who knows how long. Her blue eyes broke away from the crack in her wall and swept over them lovingly. It was strange; the last time she had seen them sleeping was the night of escape. All X5s were expected to sleep the same: on their backs, arms folded on their stomachs, head turned slightly to the side. Sleep wasn't meant to be comfortable. It was a way to rejuvenate the body, Lydecker had said.

The young X5 tilted her head, letting her catlike manner get the best of her, and studied each of them closely. Not much had changed. Unconsciously, they had (vaguely) made their beds in two rows of three. Brin was facing Ben, who was facing her and had his back to Zack. At Zack's feet was Syl, with one leg wrapped around one of Krit's, and finally Tinga was at Brin's feet, hugging a pillow like a precious loved one.

"Jondy?"

The X5 jumped and looked down to see Zack staring up at her with stunning blue-green eyes. "What are you doing awake?" she asked.

He shrugged off the blanket and sat up, stretching muscular arms above his head. "Don't need that much sleep."

Jondy rubbed her arms in a feeble attempt to drive away the cold of her unheated apartment and smiled at him sheepishly. "I wish I was able to sleep. Strange that Max thinks sleep is a curse."

Zack stood, took a seat next to her.

"Max should be here," said Jondy before he could reply. "It's not right. Why don't you make her come? You would've made any one of us come."

"You can't _make_ Max do anything anymore. I ask her to move because Lydecker is on her tail, and she refuses on account of Logan. Anything I say, 'Logan this' and 'Logan that'. He wants her to stay. He doesn't understand… So why should I even bother?"

Jondy frowned. "It's just… don't you feel betrayed? Or something like that?"

"Yeah," Zack shrugged. "But I kept you guys apart, and I especially alienated her. You know she's always been the most rebellious one."

"That's true… but… never mind. This is making me depressed." She stood up and stretched in a very catlike manner. "I'm going to make breakfast."

Zack watched her with protective eyes as she walked towards the kitchen, but before she disappeared around the corner he stopped her. "Jondy."

She turned and looked at him questioningly.

"You're not gonna die, Jon. We're not gonna let you die."

Jondy nodded in return, then turned the corner and vanished from sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"More pancakes, Brin?" asked Jondy, wincing as the younger X5 belched in reply. "Okay… how about you, Ben?"

Ben politely held out his plate and she put a stack of pancakes on top. He then gently placed it back on the table and began to eat them—bite by bite. Jondy was amazed at his manners, for the rest of the X5s had practically wolfed down their breakfast before heading back out to the living room, drowsy like lions who had just gorged themselves.

"So what's the plan for today?" asked Brin, patting her full stomach contentedly.

"Zack's cooking up something, but he won't tell me what it is," replied Jondy with a shrug.

"We'll be going to a bar. There, Zack will be able to speak to a contact who will betray us indefinitely," interrupted Ben in a matter-of-factly tone. "And I'll rip their throats out."

Brin and Jondy stared at him, stunned speechless. Jondy looked at Brin, who looked back at her and then, much to Jondy's surprise, Brin scolded him, "Ben! Don't do that!"

"It's true," he replied, though he seemed humbled by the fact that she, a full ten inches shorter than he, had yelled at him. "The Lady told me while I slept."

Jondy shivered. The Blue Lady; their 'savior'. Ben's obsession. She looked him in the eye and was instantly stuck there, his hazel orbs no more alive than those of a dead person. It was like looking into the back of his head; nothing was there. His lips were pressed into a thin line, chin quivering with pent-up energy. Controlled, large hands clenched and unclenched on top of the table, leading up to tense arms. His jaw followed the same suit; clenching and unclenching periodically as if he were in pain.

"Jondy. Jondy!" Brin's voice penetrated Jondy's thoughts, and it was obvious from the irritated look on her face that she had been trying to get the other X5's attention for some time.

"Huh?" The older X5 turned her pale blue eyes to Brin and blinked dumbly. "What?"

"Zack's calling you," said Brin, carefully eyeing Ben, who was staring at the ground blankly.

"Oh… alright," Jondy put the empty pan of pancakes on the now-cold stove and took off her apron. She turned around and grinned, trying to lighten the mood. "It's show time."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is how it's gonna go. This guy's got good stuff but every word he says has a price. It could get real ugly, real fast. He's got a horde of muscle men backing him up, but usually they hide out until they're needed. Two can play that game. I'm going to talk to him, and you guys need to blend in. We're going to arrive two by two in three to six minute intervals, okay? Don't talk to anyone but who you came with, and don't even look over at us. If it goes sour, the sound of bullets will probably alert you to that fact. Are we clear?" Zack looked at each of them as they nodded in return. "Okay. Jondy with Tinga. Ben with Brin. Syl with Krit. I'll go in after Syl and Krit."

"Are we going right now?" asked Jondy.

"No, we're waiting 'til it's dark."

"So what do we do while we're waiting?"

Zack raised an eyebrow. "I think you guys need showers first." He smirked to himself, but the others just glared at him. "After that, I want you guys to empty your cars of every gun, knife, and crowbar you have hidden in there, which I know you do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so that's how their afternoon went, and a feeling of uneasiness hung in the air as thickly as the city's smog. They were restive; killing time didn't appeal to them too much, especially Jondy. Zack had explained that they couldn't move too quickly or something would be overlooked.

Jondy sat on the hood of Tinga's SUV as she removed the driver seat to reveal a stash of guns and grenades. "Wow," commented the younger X5, eyes wide.

Tinga shrugged. "Accumulated over the years."

"So where'd you get this truck?" Jondy tapped on the hood, impressed. "Expensive nowadays."

"I bought it."

Jondy's jaw dropped.

"With stolen money," Tinga explained, then laughed. "I told my husband I found it in a bag on the ground."

"Good one," commented Jondy with a grin. "So you have a husband?"

"Yeah… and a son." She pulled a picture from the dash and handed it to her pseudo-sister. "Case and Charlie."

"Wow," Jondy repeated. "That's even more impressive than the truck…" She handed the picture back. "And Zack _let_ you do this?"

"No… but I did it anyway," said Tinga as she removed the weapons. "Sometimes with him you've got to be rebellious… eventually, he'll come around. I mean, I know you're rather fond of him but…" She wriggled her eyebrows teasingly.

"Am not!" protested Jondy. "No, no, no, no!"

Tinga shrugged and replaced the seat. "Whatever you say."

Jondy wracked her brain with a way to change the subject. "So… how'd they get their cars?" She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the silver Benz and red convertible.

"I asked them last night before they went to sleep. Brin stole hers from a Senator who was campaigning to outlaw rock music, and the former owners of Krit's convertible mysteriously disappeared right before an anonymous report came in that they were in an illegal slave ring," Tinga said nonchalantly.

"Ah, I see," replied the younger X5 with a grin. "So, are you done? I'm ready to head back inside." She looked at the horizon, where the sun was just about to disappear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zack walked into Le Riviera, a rather nice bar that had, at one point, employed Jondy herself, and looked around. Music pulsated from the speakers hidden in the dark ceiling, washing over the heads of the patrons as they indulged their every whim and wish. The dance floor was covered in people, including Syl and Krit, who were 'cleverly' disguised as newlyweds. He shrugged off his jacket and handed it to the doorman, who handed it to a young woman to take away. Jamming the jacket claim ticket into his jean pocket, he sauntered into the disarray towards the booths where dinner could be ordered. It didn't take him long to spot his contact.

Jay Black was a small, skinny man with long dark hair that was currently pulled back. A cigarette was clutched in grimy hands, which led up to unimpressive arms and dirty black shirt. He wore a silver chain around his neck with a steel serpent hanging off of it. Every now and then he would flick his tongue across his lips like a snake.

"Got the money?" asked the tiny man as Zack sat down across from him.

"You got the info?" he replied hotly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jondy and Tinga, the last to enter, looked around Le Riviera apprehensively.

"I'm going to the bar," declared Tinga. "You?"

"I'll mingle," replied Jondy after briefly glancing at the bartender. He was an ex-boyfriend.

Tinga nodded and moved off towards the bar, while Jondy stood in the doorway a bit to look around. The song, which had been a slow vocal one when they walked in, changed to a fast-paced rock song which Jondy recognized from when she had worked there. It was some Pre-Pulse band's remixed song. The band was Lincoln Park or something like that. Linkin, maybe.

_I woke up in a dream today_

_To the cold of the static_

_And put my cold feet on the floor_

_Forgot all about yesterday_

_Remembering I'm pretending to be where I'm not anymore_

_A little taste of hypocrisy_

_And I'm left in the wake of the mistake_

_Slow to react_

_Even though you're so close to me_

_You're still so distant, and I can't bring you back_

Her blue eyes flickered over the heads of the people as they jumped up and down as if they were in a concert, causing the floor to tremble under their feet. The DJ was yelling something to get them even more riled up, but she paid no attention to him.

_It's true, the way I feel_

_Was promised by your face_

_The sound of your voice_

_Painted on my memories_

_Even if you're not with me_

_I'm with you_

_With you_

_With you_

_With you_

_With you_

She spotted Syl and Krit right smack dab in the middle of the crowd, jumping right along with them. They were holding empty margarita glasses in their right hands, waving their free hands high in the air. Laughing and singing along with the band, they were having a blast.

_I hit you and you hit me back_

_And we fall to the floor_

_The rest of the day stands still_

_Fine line between this and that_

_But when things go wrong, I pretend the past isn't real_

_Now I'm trapped in this memory_

_And I'm left in the wake of the mistake_

_Slow to react_

_Even though you're close to me_

_You're still so distant, and I can't bring you back_

Brin and Ben were sitting in a booth opposite each other, talking quietly. Jondy had noticed something different going on between these two. Usually, she would've accused them of having a form of romance… but their relationship was quite different than anything she'd seen before. It was more like a competition for dominance than anything else. But then again, weren't all relationships like that?

_I wont let you control my fate while_

_I'm holding the weight of the world on my conscience_

_I wont just sit here and wait while you weighing your options_

_Your making a fool of me_

_You didn't dare to try and say you don't care_

_And solemnly swear not to follow me there_

_It ain't like me to beg on my knees_

_Or, please oh baby please_

_That's not how I'm doing things_

_No I'm not upset, no I'm not angry_

_I know love is love and love sometimes, it doesn't pay me_

She rubbed her bare arms, resisting the urge to locate Zack in the crowded bar. Somebody bumped into her from behind and she stepped to the side, allowing him to pass. As he did, she briefly spotted the gun hanging from his belt.

_No I'm not upset, no I'm not angry_

_I know love is love and love sometimes, it doesn't pay me_

_I'm never without you, I'll always be with you_

_You'll never forget me, I'm keeping you with me_

_I wont let you take me to the end of my row_

_Or keep burning and torching my soul_

_No I'm not your puppet_

_And no, no, no, I wont let you go_

_No, no matter how far we've come_

_I can't wait to see tomorrow_

_No matter how far we've come_

_I, I can't wait to see tomorrow_

_With you_

_With you_

_With you_

_With you_

As the song ended, Jondy heard the sound of scuffling. Her head snapped up as gun shots split the air. Immediately, her eyes turned to the man with the gun. He had drawn it and was pointing it at Zack and his contact, who were caught in a heated fight. She blurred forward and knocked it from his hand, then punched him in the face. He went down with a loud thud, causing chaos to beak out in the bar.

"Tinga!" yelled Jondy, looking around. It was always better to fight in pairs.

Instantly, Tinga was at her side. "I got your back," she said over the horrified screams of customers.

Jondy spotted more minions drawing guns and they headed over there while Brin and Ben ran to help Zack. The young X5 punched the first enemy she reached in the mouth, ignoring the sharp pain of his teeth digging into her knuckles. He screamed in pain and she kicked him in the chest as hard as any normally trained fighter would do, but not hard enough to raise suspicion. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Syl and Krit preventing the bar's security from intervening.

"I'm sorry, Sir, you're going to have to move," said the biggest guard sternly.

"Wellllll, whatchaaa gonna do if we don't," replied Krit in a well-faked slur.

Another guard stepped up in-line with the first one. "If you don't move, we're going to have to take you in along with them."

Krit shrugged and promptly punched him in the face, followed by Syl kicking the big one right in the balls.

Meanwhile, Zack, Brin, and Ben easily pinned down Jay Black and squeezed the last of the information out of him before deciding that they had enough. "Just remember," concluded Zack seriously, "I could kill you any where, any time I wanted. I'm more powerful than you could ever imagine." He looked at Brin and Ben pointedly, since they were holding Black down with little to no effort at all and he was struggling with all his might. "Let him go."

Brin and Ben stepped back.

Zack briefly took his eyes off Black to look at his comrades. He was genuinely startled by the crazed look shining in Ben's emerald eyes. Brin had one hand on Ben's shoulder, and though it was hard to notice, Zack spotted the fact that her hand was gripping him tightly as if holding him back. Her nails dug into his shirt and both their bodies were tense. Zack knew this kind of body language. They were ready to fight each other, but only the sense of affection between the two prevented it. 

"Let's go," said Zack quickly, before this got out of hand. He whistled to Syl, Krit, Jondy, and Tinga, and they all ran from the bar while everyone else was still trying to figure out what had happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Wondering what the 'info' is? I'll tell you in the next chapter, k?


	5. Hot in Herre

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show Dark Angel, owned and created by James Cameron. I do, however, own any and all original characters appearing here. If you wish to use them, please ask me first.

Time Period: Before _Cold Comfort_, AU.

Summary: Information is shared, and trouble brews within the 'family.'

A/N: Max is not coming. No. No. No. No. She's staying at home. Takin a break from the ficcie world. This fic is Max-less. Dark Angel isn't just about Max, it's about all the characters! It's about what's happening in the world in the year 2019. Well okay, Max might be in later chapters, but at the moment she's gooone!

**332340090210**

by****

BRIN__

****

_Why does it feel like night today?_

_Something in here's not right today…_

_Why am I so uptight today?_

_Paranoia's all I got left_

_I don't know what stressed me first_

_Or how the pressure was fed / but_

_I know just what it feels like_

_To have a voice in the back of my head_

_It's like a face that I hold inside_

_A face that awakes when I close my eyes_

_A face watches every time I lie_

A face that laughs every time I fall 

—Linkin Park, _Papercut_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 4: Hot in Herre

The X5s regrouped back at Jondy's apartment, hearts beating wildly as their veins pulsated with adrenaline from the fight. After fights, animals tend to be agitated and anxious. It was no different for the X5s, who felt like fighting each other if it would relieve their aggression, which was pestering to the point where they were almost in pain.

Ben, eyes on fire, gripped the wall to prevent himself from collapsing. "Alright… maybe we could hear that information you got?" he said slowly. "Maybe to get our minds off of… things?"

Zack glanced up with glazed eyes as if he were in a daze and replied, "Okay. Just give me a moment." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, glancing around at his 'siblings' warily. Something was a tad bit… off; the air had shifted since they had last been here. With suspicious blue-green eyes, he studied each of his siblings carefully. There seemed to be nothing wrong, but he decided to be on his toes nonetheless…

"Alright, alright. The man I met worked for a former sponsor of Manticore. Thing is, he's one of those Manticore flubs—they killed the main man, but never got him. So he knows things… a lot of things. Jay Black's his name, and for what lacks in size and physical power he makes up with influence on the street. That guy could get a kid to shoot you in the back for free," explained the oldest X5 solemnly. "Now that we've crossed him, we're going to have to watch our backs, got it?" He looked around at them as they nodded. "Alright, what I got from him is, basically, the day-to-date routines of Manticore. He relayed to me the hiring/firing pattern they have with some of the personnel; the times of guard changes; the times of day when all X-series return from their outside missions; the—"

And here he stopped, for now he could tell that something was definitely wrong. He looked at each of his sisters. Jondy was fine. Syl was fine. Tinga was fine… but then his eyes settled upon Brin. His body reacted, fire racing through his veins as a sensual, intoxicating scent filled his being—pheromones.

"Brin," he said, looking at Jondy helplessly as he moved towards her.

Krit and Ben had noticed it too. They were clustered around the young woman, bodies half-turned towards her, eyes glazed over as if they were in a trance. Brin was staring back at them with a similarly inebriated look, her pinkish lips swollen and her cheeks flushed red. A sheen of sweated formed on her brow and, totally overcome by her instincts, the latched onto the first male she could reach—Krit.

Zack growled as a wave of territorial aggression came over him. He rushed forward and yanked Krit away from Brin, giving the younger X5 a punch on the face for good measure. Immediately, she replaced Krit with Zack—kissing, touching, gasping; her body pressed into his.

Jondy gasped, her eyes widening to the size of saucers as Zack and Brin went at it in the middle of her living room. She knew what was going on in Brin's mind, having been through it many times herself, of course. As soon as the pheromones take over, a female X5's mind turns almost totally animal. They seek out the biggest and the strongest males they can give—which drives the males to fight to prove their worth… because nothing is more enticing to a male X5. They would probably fight each other to the death if they didn't have that tiny bit of their human mind still with them. Jondy snapped out of her thoughts as Ben suddenly stepped forward and pulled Zack away from Brin with a lion-like roar that made the apartment tremble.

"Zack!" shouted Tinga, grabbed the oldest X5 as he snarled at Ben. "Zack, stop it! Syl, get Krit!"

Syl, who had already made several attempts to get Krit under control and had bruises forming on her arms and legs as a result, yelled in response, "Jondy, get Brin and Ben out of here! _Now!"_

Jondy nodded and ran up to Brin and Ben, who had already succeeded in getting each other's shirts off. There was no separating them now; it was way too dangerous. She pushed them into the hallway. Several other residents stuck their heads out of their apartments at the commotion, not too shocked at seeing two people nearly naked in their hallway. In fact, most of them just shrugged and went back inside. Jondy looked up and down the hallway, remembering that the apartment two doors down was empty. She somehow shoved them over to it and kicked the door open.

"IN!" she ordered firmly.

Ben, who had a bit more of his mind with him than Brin, picked her up and carried her into the room as her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. They then fell against the wall and Jondy slammed the door shut.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tinga was tending to a large bruise forming on her cheek from where Zack had struck her when Jondy returned. Syl had more bruises, but they were smaller and wouldn't give her a killer headache like Tinga's would in a while. Tension came off the male X5s in thick waves that could've been slashed with a knife. Jondy could still smell the pheromones still hanging in the air due to the little ventilation in her apartment, so she remained on her guard.

A loud thump was heard from the next apartment… or, more likely, the second apartment down… and they jumped. To break the silence, Zack stepped up and said, "Sorry about that, you guys… You okay, Tinga?"

"It's alright, Zack," she replied, though she looked like a wounded bird. "Nobody knew that was coming."

"While we're on the subject," interrupted Krit. "When's the last time you girls had heat? Ya know, just to be safe…" He shifted from foot to foot restively.

"A month ago," said Tinga quietly.

"Five weeks," stated Syl.

"About 9 weeks," said Jondy.

"Good, but we might wanna watch you, Jon," declared Zack, scratching the back of his neck thoughtfully.

Jondy nodded, but didn't feel good about being labeled a liability. This would cause a problem later when that inevitable situation would arise where they'd have to draw straws over something or other. She shrugged it off nonetheless and said, "Anyone hungry?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time passed, almost ignored by the X5s, who had an uncannily accurate sense of time. They didn't want to think about the precious moments that were slipping away, or what would happen when their comrades finally returned. No matter how important time was, they couldn't continue without Brin and Ben. If they did, it'd only result in having to repeat themselves later—and have the risk of the other two X5s getting the less-detailed version.

Jondy had ordered some Chinese, and they sat eating it while attempting to make small talk with each other.

"So whatcha been up to lately?" Krit asked Jondy nonchalantly.

"Nothing, really. Been savin' up to move outta San Francisco… up to Seattle," she replied with a shrug. "I hear it's better there than anywhere on the West Coast, and Max is there."

Krit peeked at Zack before responding, "Yeah, I wanna go up there too. I'd give anything to see Max."

Jondy nodded, then leaned forward and whispered, "You want to call her?"

Brown eyes, mirror images of Max's, widened. "Are you serious?" he lowered his voice to below a human's range of hearing.

"I have her number."

"Well shit! Let's go for it!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mumbling excuses akin to 'I need some fresh air,' Krit and Jondy exited the apartment building and traveled to the nearest pay phone—three blocks down. Krit inserted the right amount of change and Jondy dialed the number. Their hearts were pounding as the phone rang once, twice, then came, "Hello?"

"Is Max there?"

There was a hesitant pause, then, "Who's this?"

"Who's this?"

"I asked you first."

"I asked you second."

"Yeah, well you called me!"

Jondy sighed and said, "Tell her it's… Jenny." She shrugged at Krit, who frowned at the name.

"O…kay. Jenny. I'll get the suga," said the young woman.

Jondy listened intently and could make out the obvious argument being held while a hand was over the mouth piece.__

_"Gimme the phone, Cindy."_

_"Who is this Jenny girl?"_

_"Cindy, I don't know who Jenny is. Just lemme see the phone."_

_"You can see it from right here!"_

_"CINDY!"_

There was a brief rustling of cloth as if the two women were scuffling, then a familiar voice rang in over the line. Static made her sound crackly and hoarse, but there was no mistaking that voice. "Max."

"Jondy!" Max's voice raised a few notches in surprise. "Jondy, is something wrong?"

_Good ol Maxie,_ thought Jondy with a smile. "Hey, Max. Krit and I are just calling because we wanted to… to just talk, ya know." She paused. "So we didn't get the whole story. Why aren't you coming?"

"I'm so goddamn sorry about that, Jondy," said Max quietly. "But something came up. My friend Logan works… against the government, if you know what I mean. A sector cop beat a woman to a bloody pulp all over national television and I gotta go teach that sucker a lesson, but he's skipping town so I have to find him fast. But I swear as soon as I take care of him, I'll be down there helping you guys."

Jondy smiled. "So Logan didn't beg you to stay like Zack said?"

"No. Zack isn't too fond of Logan."

"Ah. I see… well, Krit wants to talk to you. Bye, baby sister."

"Bye, Jon."

"Love ya."

"Love ya too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jondy and Krit returned to the apartment about twenty minutes later. When they entered, they found Brin wrapped in Tinga's arms and Ben sitting on the couch, staring off into space as if in a trance. Nothing needed to be said, for everyone understood the situation. Animosity and animal tendencies were not things ignored by the X-series, and their animal instincts all knew the same thing: from now on Brin belonged to Ben, and vice versa.

…then there was always that problem that Brin was most likely pregnant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: NOT the best chapter of this story… sorry, momentary writer's block.


	6. Tattooed

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show Dark Angel, owned and created by James Cameron. I do, however, own any and all original characters appearing here. If you wish to use them, please ask me first.

Time Period: Before _Cold Comfort_, AU.

Summary: The X5s are finally getting down to business.

**332340090210**

by****

BRIN 

"If you are going through hell, keep going." - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"X5s were created under the constant supervision of the supreme 'ruler,' I guess we could call him, of Manticore. His name was kept under ultimate secrecy, but whispers around the facility have come up with his name being Sandman or something like that. Well, Sandman was the creator of transgenics. After the first four series, he tried something totally different for his fifth series—us.

"The first four X-series were weaker, dumber, and they received little to no soldier training. We, on the other hand, were brought up as soldiers from day one. However, this Sandman guy was aware of the dangers of a superior species—if we somehow managed to find the stability of mind to do it, we could cause _a lot _of damage to the world.

"So he encoded into our DNA an idiot-proof plan—the expiration date. It's like a virus that grows inside us at a rate decided by our DNA structure… and when the time is right, it takes over our bodies and _destroys_ us. The only way to prevent the expiration date is to return to Manticore and acquire the antidote… at least, that's what Black said."

Six pairs of wide eyes stared back at him in disbelief.

"Go… back to Manticore?" asked Syl, as if wanting Zack to tell her that her ears deceived her; that he hadn't really suggested they do the one thing they had swore against ever since the escape.

"It's the only way… otherwise we all die," answered Zack solemnly. "We'll die one by one, and the last to go will be driven mad by the grief. You all know it's true."

Silence.

"But… but Zack, if we go back… we might not be as lucky as before," said Krit. "I mean, they probably cracked down on security tenfold after we got out."

"They probably had no choice," replied the oldest X5. "After all, sponsors would want reassurance that it wouldn't happen again."

As they bantered back and forth, dancing around the subject of returning to Manticore nervously, Brin and Ben watched them with eerie silence. They sat a few inches away from each other on Jondy's beat-up old couch, knees touching lightly. Neither knew what to say; what to do. Were they happy? Sad? Angry? There were no answers, but the both of them vaguely felt all three emotions, which of course were mixed in with about a million others—repulsion, bliss, angst, lust, hatred… love? Maybe.

"Look, it all comes down to this: we all die, or we all live. Simple as that," concluded Zack, fed up with the petty excuses not to return to their Hell on earth.

This silenced the X5s, and they sat in thoughtful silence for a few minutes before Tinga spoke up, "We have to do it. We can do it, guys. They won't be expecting us… we'll have total surprise. AND—" she picked up the maps that Black had provided for them "—with these, we'll be able to get in and out unnoticed."

Her words rallied the X5s' courage, and Krit declared, "We should do it! If not for us, then for every poor soul they've tampered with!"

"That was very inspirational, Krit," teased Syl with an angelic smile.

"Alright, we'll take a vote," announced Zack. "All in favor of attacking the base directly and taking the antidote by force?"

All hands raised.

"Then it's settled. We head out at first light."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tinga and Brin sat out on the balcony, looking up at the stars that now dotted the sky as a result of the lack of electricity in the city. Sitting on two busted lawn chairs, holding hands in-between them as they had back at Manticore, nothing was said until Tinga finally asked in a low, nonchalant tone, "So what're you going to do about Ben?"

Brin kept her eyes glued to the sky as she replied, "I don't know."

"Well how do you feel about him?"

The chair creaked as Brin shifted uncomfortably, her hand dropping away from Tinga's. "It depends on what time of day it is," she said in total seriousness. "In the morning he's just dandy. In the afternoon he's intellectual and fun. In the evening he's moody, and at night he's outright scary, Tinga. He scares me sometimes, and…" She turned away, a ragged sob escaping her throat.

"Brinny," Tinga crooned quietly, pulling her little sister close. "It's okay."

"I-I never thought… something'd happen between us that way," whispered the younger X5 thickly. "I mean… we've shared like, drunken kisses before… especially around the teenage years… but…" She abruptly stopped, her face turning a peculiar shade of green, and ran to the edge of the balcony where she proceeded to empty the meager contents of her stomach.

Tinga moved over to the younger woman and held her hair back. "Brin?"

Brin coughed a few times more and spat in a feeble attempt to rid her mouth of the acidic taste. "Yes?"

"You're going to be just fine."

The words were said with such conviction and belief behind them that Brin couldn't think of a response – so instead she turned her head and vomited some more. When she was done, she wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve and collapsed onto the chair once again. "I don't think I could handle him by myself at night," she admitted sheepishly.

"Alright, but overall… what do you feel for him? You two obviously have some kind of weird chemistry thing going on, but I can never understand it… I mean, none of us can. You guys seem like you tolerate each other's presence uneasily, but at the same time it's like you don't want to leave each others' side."

Brin frowned. "I don't know. Maybe there's something there, but I'm too scared to admit it… and not for the reasons you think. I'm scared for his sanity, Tinga. Ya know on the way here he asked me how I would commit suicide if I wanted to? He said he'd get drunk off vodka, then throw himself off the side of a building or hang himself. On top of that… when he said it, he got this look in his eye like a child in a candy store… A sort of glittering mischief – the kind they say thieves and murderers have." She shivered and rubbed her arms to make it look like she was shivering because of the cold. "So if I love him, I wouldn't tell him because I'm afraid of losing him."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jondy was changing into a pair of boxers and a t-shirt when a loud knock on her bedroom door startled her enough to fall over with a loud 'THUD.' Immediately, the door flew open and there stood Zack, ready for action.

"What happened?" he asked, alarmed. "Jondy?"

"Right here." Jondy held up her arm so that he could see her position behind the bed. "Don't come any closer. Toss me the shirt."

Zack stared at the shirt underneath his feet. The shirt was here. Jondy was over there. Jondy obviously wasn't wearing a shirt. His heart leapt into his throat as he bent to pick it up.

"It's getting a little bit cold," complained Jondy.

The male X5 wadded the t-shirt up and threw it at her outstretched hand, then half-turned as she sat up – facing away from him – to put it on. Her bare back gleamed in the dim light. She had angel wings tattooed over each of her shoulder blades. Underneath the wings, across the small of her back, were written the words "A WITTY SAYING PROVES NOTHING."

"Nice tattoo," commented Zack as she pulled the t-shirt over her head, covering the design.

"I got the one on my back in Spain."

"Do you have any more?"

Jondy stood up and pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail. "Yep. You wanna see?" She gestured for him to sit on the bed.

"Well… sure." He sat down on the edge of the creaky old bed.

"Alright," Jondy began, rolling up her sleeves to show her upper arm, "I got this one last year." It was a snake wrapped around her arm, giving the illusion of constricting her arm when she flexed her bicep. She then let her sleeve drop and rolled up the opposite arm. "This is the first one I got." On the side of her arm was a Chinese symbol. The ink was smeared a bit; she had obviously picked at the scab that was left. "The guy told me it means 'flight' or something like that, but for all I know it could mean chicken shit."

Zack smiled. "What about those on your forearms?"

Jondy looked down. "Handcuffs," she replied, pointing to the bands around her wrists. "Those are a drunken mistake. The rest were just spur-of-the-moment decisions." There were three other tattoos; two on her left forearm and one on her right. On her right was a butterfly. On her left was a wolf and a thorny rose.

"I'm impressed," admitted Zack.

"I've got three more," said Jondy with a wink. She lifted her shirt and pushed down her boxers a bit to reveal a sun tattoo around her navel.

Zack's eyes widened as he realized how low her pants were hanging on her hips, but refrained from drooling. He coughed to cover his nervousness and stood up. "I only have one." He rolled up his sleeve to reveal a Chinese symbol similar to Jondy's… and in the same spot. "Though I'm not quit sure what it means."

Jondy laughed. "Yeah, the good thing about being an X5 is you can get a tattoo virtually _anywhere_." She sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall to look up at him. "So what'd you come in here for in the first place?"

"I was going to ask you something."

"And that would be…?"

"If you would move after this is over."

Jondy frowned at him, snapping out of her playful mood. "Move?"

"Yeah. You've made too many calls from this place. I want you to move at least five blocks away, or at least into a new sector," said Zack seriously. "Either that, or get out of San Francisco altogether."

Jondy stared at him for a long while, then said, "Okay. You win. I'll go."

Zack nodded, stood, and left without so much as a backward glance.

And here Jondy had thought something was going on between them…

The next morning as the sun peeked over the horizon, taillights disappeared from the parking lot of Jondy's hotel building.

TBC…


	7. The High Place

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show Dark Angel, owned and created by James Cameron. I do, however, own any and all original characters appearing here. If you wish to use them, please ask me first.

Time Period: Before _Cold Comfort_, AU.

Summary: Car rides & X5s don't mix.

****

**X** **332340090210**

by****

BRIN

_"Hope has_ _been and_ _always will be safe._ _It's inside every one of_ _us." – Xena, as portrayed by Lucy Lawless_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My car is going to be a pile of metal by the time we get back. No wait; there won't be any of it left!" complained Jondy, her face pressed against the window, watching her silver-blue Aston-Martin getting farther and farther away. "Can't I just…"

"No," said Zack from the front seat. "It'll be too much hassle for us to go in several cars, and a lot more conspicuous. We lay low this way, and Tinga's truck isn't too distracting."

"Yeah well how come Brin and Ben get to drive Zack's pickup while we're squished in here?" whined Syl.

"Because those two need to talk about things, and we all know they won't talk when anyone else is around," replied Tinga in a matter-of-factly tone. "Besides, think of it as quality time with your long-lost family."

"Does the term 'cruel and unusual punishment' mean anything to you?" wailed Krit.

Zack threw a crumpled newspaper at him. "Stop complaining. This _isn't_ negotiable."

"I get shotgun on the way back," announced Jondy irritably, crossing her arms over her chest and slumping in her seat. "Can we have some music?"

Tinga pressed a button. Immediately, they heard,

"Old MacDonald had a farm, had a farm, had a farm—" 

"TURN IT OFF!" shouted Zack, Krit, Syl, and Jondy all at the same time.

Tinga changed it to the radio and shrugged sheepishly at them. "Sorry. It's Case's favorite song."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben glanced at Brin out of the corner of his eye. She was curled up on her side, fast asleep in the passenger seat, her head relaxed against the headrest of the seat. Her hair was lazily tangled in sleep, spread out over the leather like a pool of silky black water. She had been feeling miserable for the most of the trip, though they had only been driving for two hours or so, and had just fallen asleep only a few minutes before. Her face was paler than usual, making her quickly-applied makeup stand out against her skin.

_A China doll,_ he thought to himself. _She looks just like a China doll._

Going against his better judgment, the young man extended his hand across the car and brushed a strand of raven hair from her face. She stirred briefly, then mumbled in her sleep, "Ben…"

Surprised, he quietly answered, "Yes?"

Plainly oblivious to the fact that she was actually speaking to him and not to a dreamscape Ben, Brin whispered, "Ben… Ben… Did you see her die, Ben?"

A jolt of pain hit the male X5 as he realized what she was talking about. She had said the same thing the night after the escape…

"Keep moving!" shouted Ben desperately as his partner, Brin, tripped and fell. It wasn't the fact that she was physically tired that made her clumsy, no… She was emotionally exhausted from losing Jack, then Eva, then everyone in just a few days. "We've got to keep moving."

Tears streaking her face, Brin stood up and continued at their vigorous pace through the woods, which seemed to extend forever. She was covered in muck and grime, more so than her companion, though there were clean streaks through the dirt where her unending tears had fallen. Scrapes and bruises covered her legs from inept moments where her tears had clogged her vision. "Did you see her die, Ben?"

Ben, in an instant of sympathy, went back to her and placed a helping arm over her shoulders. "I saw her."

"We didn't even get to say goo'bye… He shot her! Why didn't she shoot him first, Ben?" asked the young girl, her eyes pleading him for an answer.

"I… I don't know… Eva wasn't like that. She didn't like killing as much as the rest of us, remember? Don't worry about her. The Blue Lady will take care of her now. She's in the Good Place. Don't cry, baby sister."

Ben blinked to rid his eyes of the stinging tears, but they didn't go away. He looked at Brin, her face contorted into a heartrending grimace, and sighed. They may have fled Manticore, but they would never escape the specters it had left in their minds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you guys remember that time Zane caught a frog?" said Tinga, breaking the silence that had settled over the car in the course of the past hour. She looked at Zack, then turned and glanced at the passengers in the back.

Jondy, who was looking out the window with a thoughtful look on her face, replied, "Brin tried to get one the rest of the summer."

"She never did catch one," added Syl quietly. She had her head on Krit's shoulder.

"I remember holding it," piped in Krit. "It wasn't like anything I had ever felt before – slimy, dirty, wet. Max wouldn't even pet it."

They shared a tense laugh. Manticore was always a painful subject. Sure, they joked and poke fun at their nonexistent childhood and their tormentors, but nothing could shake that feeling of unease that would hang over them while talking about their youth home. It was an odd sort of taboo; like if they spoke of Manticore, it would swallow them up. Speak of the devil and he shall come, that's what people said.

"Do you ever wonder what happened to the ones who stayed?" asked Krit, bravely stepping into a subject none of them were too eager to explore.

Zack shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Of all the X5s, it was hardest for him to talk about 'the others.' He was not one to wear his heart on his sleeve, or anywhere visible for that matter. As soon as Krit asked the question, the walls went up and he put on a soldier mask. It was something he did regularly… now second nature.

From her position in the back seat, Jondy noticed Zack's change as she watched him in the rearview mirror.

"Jace is probably just fine and dandy," Tinga voiced her opinion bitterly. She had never been too fond of Jace, who had seemed to tell on Tinga just a bit more than the rest. "But then there was Gabe… Rex…" she trailed off.

All in all, there were two X5 units in the building, each with about twenty-five to twenty soldiers in them. From their unit, which consisted of twenty X's, thirteen had escaped, including Zack. Three were dead – Jack, Crow, and Eva. Jace hadn't wanted to escape. The other three hadn't been seen or heard from since splitting up in the clearing.

"…and Kels," finished Syl. "You think we'll see them?"

Zack bristled. "If we do, don't expect a warm welcome."

The other X5s glanced at him warily.

"Don't even expect them to acknowledge that they were ever part of your unit. Don't expect them to remember their names," he added critically. "There's no love left for us back at Manticore."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brin jerked awake, nearly falling off the seat. Blinking dumbly, she glanced about through bleary eyes. "Ben?" she asked hoarsely.

"Right here," came his voice, though he sounded far away.

Cursing her sore back and kinked neck, Brin sat up straight and searched for him in the darkness. "Ben?"

"Brin," he responded, this time closer.

The young woman turned and saw him walking towards the truck from a small restaurant. She yawned and rubbed her hazy eyes, then spotted Tinga's truck sitting in the next parking space. It was empty – they had gone inside.

"You're awake," commented Ben nonchalantly as he opened the passenger door for the female X5. "Nice nap?"

Brin yawned again, then frowned. "Yeah. I just wish I wasn't so tired… all we did was drive today…"

"Whoa, whoa!" Ben caught her as she fell forward. "Hey, you okay?"

The young woman nodded and put her arms around his neck sleepily. "Just peachy…" she whispered before her head dropped and she was fast asleep once again.

Shaking his head and allowing himself a tiny grin, Ben carried Brin into the rather nice restaurant. The other X5s were waiting.

"What'd you do?" joked Jondy as Ben settled Brin into a chair. "Hit her?"

"Do you guys think there's something wrong with her? She's been sleeping like this all day," said Ben worriedly. He sat on the chair next to Brin and held her upright with his left hand.

"It's a symptom of X5 pregnancy," piped Tinga.

Ben turned to her. "What?"

"A sudden, dramatic increase in required sleep is a symptom of an X5 pregnancy. The people who designed us thought it would be useful if X5s showed signs of conception within three days, since the waiting period is always a bitch and they didn't want to send… faulty soldiers into the field. I learned it in medic training. The drowsiness will only last a day or two. I went through it with Case," explained Tinga nervously. "She'll be fine by tomorrow."

There was a moment of strained silence, then Syl slapped Ben on the back and said in a pointedly cheerful voice, "Come on, bro! Let's eat. I'm starved."

Uneasy silence settled over the table as they ate their seafood dinner (being the cats that they were).  Afterwards, the X5s retreated to a nearby hotel and rented two rooms. Syl, Krit, Jondy, and Zack took the larger room, while Ben, Tinga, and Brin stayed in the other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Syl patted the unclean sheets into place and fluffed the moldy pillows in an attempt to make the bed appear more comfortable. Krit was busily disarming himself of his many hidden weapons, Jondy was in the bathroom, and Zack was preparing the other bed in a much less mindful manner than Syl.

"Hey Krit, I thought you were gonna leave the nine-millimeter at home," commented Syl coolly as she saw the gun appear from one of his many inner-pockets.

"Well I didn't want to take the pistols. They're collector's items," he replied with a wink before placing the last of the weapons upon the dresser and taking off his shirt. As an X5, his body was naturally at its fittest 25/7/365, but that didn't stop Syl from appreciating every inch of it. She stopped what she was going and walked over to him, her arms snaking around his waist.

"You do that on purpose," she accused, kissing the tattoo of a phoenix upon his spine.

"Do what?" replied Krit innocently. He took one of her hands and 'innocently' put a long, slender finger between his lips. "I'm not doing anything wrong here."

Syl bit back a retort and instead yanked her hands back, turning him around. "You're a cruel, cruel person."

"Never." Krit gave her a feigned offended face, then tackled his blonde beauty so that they were both on the bed.

Across the room, Zack ignored them the best he could and climbed into the bed wearing only his boxers. He could hear Krit and Syl still wrestling around so he closed his eyes. After a minute or so, Jondy emerged from the bathroom and one of his eyes betrayed him by cracking open a bit. Her dark hair flowing freely over her shoulders, she wore only an oversized t-shirt that barely covered her panties. 

Successfully paying no attention to Syl and Krit, who had moved on to making out by now, she tossed her things into her suitcase and regarded the bed in which Zack lay nearly falling off the edge. She contemplated it for some time, as if debating whether or not the floor was a more suitable place, then finally sat down on the side opposite Zack. He quickly closed his eyes and evened his breathing to appear asleep, but nearly lost his façade when a soft hand came to rest on his shoulder, soon followed by the covers being pulled up to his shoulders. The young man lay frozen for an unknown number of minutes, then when he was sure even Syl and Krit had gone to sleep, he turned his head. Jondy was fast asleep facing away from him now, as far away as possible whilst right next to him. He tilted his head up and saw the smile playing upon her fair lips even in sleep, and couldn't help but allow himself a grin as he settled in for the night.

In the next room, Tinga was enjoying the bed to herself while Ben and Brin decided it was only right for them to share one, though the situation wasn't entirely relaxed for either of them. They lay facing the same direction, with Ben's hand platonically placed upon her shoulder.

Their peaceful slumber continued through the wee hours of the night, but it was then that Brin jerked awake with an awful feeling in her chest. She turned beside her, but…

The bed was empty.

"Ben!" she whispered, looking around the room. The window was open, the curtains flapping in the wind. Ben's gun was gone. The young woman tiptoed past Tinga and into the adjoined room, where she gently shook Zack awake. "Zack… Zack! Ben's gone!"

Zack's eyes shot open.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"When did he disappear?" asked Zack as he wired a motorcycle.

"I don't know. I just woke up and he was gone," replied Brin, hugging herself as she stood watch. "Why would he just leave?"

"Quite frankly, Brinnie, I don't wanna know." The older X5 finished wiring the motorcycle and handed Brin the helmet. "Hop on."

Brin got on behind her big brother and wrapped her arms around him as he started it up, then sped away into the night. They drove at a speed slow enough for them to watch out for any sign of Ben, but fast enough as to not seem conspicuous. All around them, the night was alive. People staggered through the streets or stood gathered about blazing garbage cans, talking amongst themselves. Some turned their heads to watch as Brin and Zack zipped down the street, dodging cars and pedestrians in a potentially dangerous obstacle course.

"Where are you going?" yelled Brin over the roar of the motor and wind.

"There." Zack gestured to a crumbling skyscraper that loomed ominously before them.

Brin, suddenly understanding, focused on the roof of the building, where she saw three figures moving in a flurry. A cold chill ran down her spine, and she gripped Zack tighter as he picked up speed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Randy Davis had no idea what was going on. His brother, Joey, was equally confused by the situation they were currently in. A young man – six nothing, one-fifty pounds perhaps, pretty decent looking – was holding them captive at the top of Skyler's Lookout, as the locals called it. He had already beaten them senseless without breaking a sweat, but now he was preparing something a few feet away. They couldn't see what, but both had a feeling that it was not going to be pleasant.

"What do you want with us?" asked Joey, brows furrowed. "What did we do to you?"

The strange young man turned around and grinned a demonic little grin. A fire was burning behind his hard emerald eyes – though whether it be the fires of Hell or determination, it was difficult to tell. He put down whatever he was fiddling with and stepped towards them. "Absolutely nothing."

"Then why are we here?" continued Joey with steely resolve, though the sheen of sweat on his bruised forehead betrayed his fear.

"Because I chose you. You deem yourself fit for the Lady, so I will test your judgment." He continued to smile at them.

"And if we guess wrong?" asked Randy.

The young man laughed, but said nothing as he returned to his task. His captives exchanged worried glances, but they didn't have to wonder for long – soon the young man turned back to them. In his hand he held a device used for making tattoos.

"What are you doing to do with that?" Joey's eyes widened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zack parked the motorcycle at the bottom of the skyscraper and looked up. The movement had long since stopped, though as they got closer he had been able to focus on the top and see that two men were bound to chairs while another sat with a gun-like object in his hand. "We've got to go quick," he announced. "Are you sure you can make it?"

Brin nodded resolutely and they entered the building. Up, up, they went – for twenty flights or more. It seemed the stairs would never end. They passed floors of squatters, floors that were unfit for anything to live in, and floors that lay dank and forgotten, until finally they came to the roof. Without hesitation, Zack kicked open the door and charged, knocking Ben to the ground.

"Are you alright?" he asked to the two captives.

Brin ran over to them and muffled a disturbed gasp as she saw the freshly-tattooed barcodes on the back of their necks. Ben's barcode. Quickly, she untied them and looked at Zack for the okay. He nodded, and she knocked them both out with one swift kick.

Meanwhile, Ben was trying to recover from Zack's crushing charge. He seemed disoriented, as if he didn't know where he was, and he returned the attack in what could only be described as a groggy manner. Zack easily dodged Ben's feeble assault, then shoved his brother to the ground and placed a foot upon his chest.

"Ben! Wake up, Ben! Stop this!" ordered Zack in his CO voice. "You need to stop!"

"I can't… the Lady… she needs me," muttered Ben. Then, as if snapping out of his bleariness, he grabbed Zack's foot and threw the bigger X5 to the side like nothing more than a sack of potatoes. "Blessed be the Blue Lady!"

"Ben, that was ten years ago. Let her go! We don't need the Tooth Fairy on crack anymore!" yelled Zack angrily. He ran for his brother and tackled him around the waist, but Ben was driven by rage and blind faith, giving him an extra burst of strength to beat back his brother.

In the split second they were separated, however, Brin jumped into the fray. This threw both males off, and Ben was taking heavy blows by the time he recovered and began to return them. His fists were flying as he pushed Brin back, back, until she was against the edge of the roof.

"Ben! No!" yelled Zack as he scrambled to his feet. Not even blurring would get him there in time, though he tried.

Ben took no heed of him. He wound up for his punch, and delivered it full force. His aim for her stomach, however, was not taken lightly. Brin blocked the blow, preventing it from hitting her belly, and instead of absorbing the attack as her stomach would have, she ended up being pushed back and off of the roof.

"BRIN!" screamed Zack, nearly diving over the edge to get her. He missed her hand by mere millimeters, and she was gone…

Or was she?

Zack forced himself to watch his sister's descent, and he was lucky he did because it enabled him to witness Brin's almost miraculous save. She was just picking up speed when her hand instinctively shot out and grabbed something – that something happened to be the steel framing of the building where the brick had worn away. With a sharp crack and a gasp of pain from the young woman, she swung downward and into the decayed building – safe for the time being.

"Shit! Holy shit! Brin!" yelled Zack, leaning farther over. He heard a quiet 'I'm okay', and a cough from below, so he stood and turned to head down to get her. As he turned, however, he saw the look upon his brother's face and had to stop.

The blood had drained from Ben's face, leaving him pale white like a ghost. His expression was of unreserved disgust and self-repulsion. Shaking hands were clenched at his sides, his legs turning to jelly. He sank to his knees and retched. It seemed his hypnosis had passed.

"Stay here," ordered Zack with little to no sympathy. Brin had nearly died, and he would be damned if he let Ben get away with this.

Practically blurring down the stairs, Zack found Brin huddled on the ground, clutching her stomach.

"It hurts, Zack… shit, Zack… something's wrong," she wailed, eyes stinging with tears. "I hit it when I grabbed the framing… I swung against the wall…"

"Shh, it'll be okay little sister. Shh… I won't let anything happen to you." He picked her up like a child and began to carry her back down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, in a dark basement in Gillette, Wyoming, a scientist regarded a wall of digital clocks. A certain one he watched closely, for it was next to the first clock to ever zero out. It showed 48:32:09 and counting.

TBC…


	8. AngelAsshole

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show Dark Angel, owned and created by James Cameron. I do, however, own any and all original characters appearing here. If you wish to use them, please ask me first.

Time Period: Before _Cold Comfort_, AU.

Summary: Meh, you tell me.

A/N: Try to believe my medical bull. =0)

Note: Okay, I apologize for the long period between updates, but I'm really disappointing myself with how this story is turning out. Grrr. The words are just not coming to me.

****

**X** **332340090210**

by****

Brin

_"One thing I've learned in all these years is not to make love when you really don't feel it; there's probably nothing worse you can do to yourself than that."_ - Norman Mailer (1923 - )

**For** **Lexie**__

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Chapter** **8:** **Angel/Asshole**

Jondy watched a sleeping Brin though the hospital room window, her hand over her mouth in shock at the events of the past several hours.

She had gotten her monthly four hours of sleep, then woken up to find Zack gone. Before she could properly wonder about where he had gone, however, he burst into the room with Brin cradled in his arms like a doll. She was crying, he was panicking, and it just got stranger from there. In a flash, the others were out of bed and trying to calm both parties down while asking about Ben's whereabouts. Eventually, Krit and Syl went to go look for him while Tinga and Jondy handled Zack and Brin.

That night, everything they'd worked for in the past ten years was almost compromised.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, do you want the slightly good news or the bad news first?"

Zack looked up at the fair-haired doctor and sprung to his feet from his position on the ground. Jondy, Syl, and Tinga's heads popped up right after him. Krit was still looking for Ben.

"Good," blurted Tinga, her face tight with worry. "Definitely."

The doctor's eyes swept over her clipboard as she began to speak, "Well, the _slightly_ good news that I have to offer is that Miss Yang's pain is due to bruising of the abdominal portion of her body – nothing broken, though there's a small amount of internal bleeding. The bad news is that even so, I can't tell you if her child – if she _is_ pregnant, of course, because two days is a little early to be buying cigars – will be harmed later on or not. The injury might cause a bit of scarring considering the intensity of the bruises, whose origins you have not yet made clear." She raised a perfectly-shaped eyebrow and continued, "Question – how can you be so sure of her pregnancy? You don't seem to have the slightest doubt about it."

The transgenics exchanged wary looks. Syl shrugged and intervened for her less eloquent brother, "Some things you just know."

Seemingly satisfied with this straightforward yet at the same time cryptic answer, the young doctor smiled at them warmly. "Oh well. Guess… family knows best." Her head shook slightly at the word 'family', for the only two in this 'family' who could've been even remotely related were Syl and Zack. "Anyways, Miss Yang will be fine by tomorrow morning. I need to keep her here to make sure we didn't overlook anything – funding these days is terrible, so we never know for sure."

"Thank you," replied Jondy, shaking her hand.

With a nod and a smile, the doctor headed off.

As soon as she was out of earshot, the X5s huddled together and formulated their plan.

"Syl and Tinga – go get the blood sample. Jondy and I will find the records, then we get Brin outta here. Got it?" whispered Zack.

The others nodded.

"Okay, on three. One, two, three, go!"

Here they split into their respective groups and slipped, unnoticed, through the crowds of people until they had seemingly disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Syl exchanged glances with Tinga as they stood on either side of the white hospital door marked "LAUNDRY – WARNING POSSIBLE CONTAMINATION." Tinga nodded in response, casually leaning her head against the wall. Just a little longer now.

A minute or two passed, and the door opened, revealing a gaunt worker pushing a huge tub of hospital scrubs out, paying nothing more than a passing glance to the two women. He paid even less attention to the door as it swung closed behind him, or to the toe of a boot that slipped into place, keeping it cracked open. By the time he turned the corner, the two women disappeared inside.

"New digs. I'm so thrilled," commented Syl as she pulled her shirt over her head.

"Mask?" asked Tinga with a roll of her eyes.

"No. Too obvious."

Quickly changing into the scrubs, the two dumped their normal clothes into sacks and slung them over their shoulders. Syl poked her head out the door for a quick looksee, then nonchalantly slipped into the busy hall with Tinga close on her heels. With the same casual air, they strolled down the corridor. Through experience and not training, the X5s had learned that the trick to sneaking around in daytime was not to skulk about with a guilty look on your face, but to act like you belonged. If you looked like you knew what you were doing, no one would ask. That was how the world worked.

Following signs and arrows, they quickly located the blood testing lab. Here, things got a little tricky. Syl peeked through the window and knocked a few times. The worker inside glanced up and scrunched his face in confusion before approaching the door.

"What do you need?" he asked through the glass window.

Syl inwardly cursed. Damn windows. "I can't hear you!" she yelled back. "Open the door!"

Frowning, the lab tech opened the door. "What do you need?" he repeated.

"Hi! I'm Nurse Mendes," greeted Syl airily in a Southern accent. "I was just wondering where the maternity ward is? I left and I'm afraid I can't for the life of me find my way back." She forcefully moved into the doorway, causing the tech to take a few steps back in order to keep his personal space. "Could you help me, kind sir?" She could feel Tinga move into place behind her so that it was impossible for the lab tech to close the door.

"I don't think you have the authorization to be in here," protested the young tech, moving even farther back.

Syl was loving the young man's compulsive need for personal space. She took a few more steps into the room. Behind her, the door clicked shut. As soon as she heard the sound, Syl sprang into action. Her fist collided with his cheek, then her foot found his side. The tech went sprawling to the ground, nearly toppling an entire rack of blood samples. Kicking him in the face several times for good measure, Syl stood watch over him as Tinga rifled through the hundreds of vials of red liquid.

"Yang, Yang, Yang," murmured Tinga, lifting each and every vial to read the nametag. She jumped a few trays for good measure and by luck pulled up one marked _Janice Yang_. "Janice, right?"

"How many Yang's can there be?" replied Syl with a sigh. She bent and stole the tech's wallet and watch.

"Syl, will you stop that?" pleaded Tinga as she counted the other vials marked Yang. "Damn it, Syl, there's six."

"First names?"

"Janice, Lane, Peter, David, and David."

"It's Janice. That's what her old boyfriend called her," recalled Syl. "Let's go."

"Right."

Meanwhile, Jondy and Zack performed an almost mirror operation to retrieve Brin's medical file. After they were all done, they converged at the lobby for the last element – Brin herself. Without looking at each other, they made for Brin's room. It would be about five minutes before anyone found the lab tech or file keeper, and then hell would break loose. They had to leave as soon as possible to minimize chance of being chased. But as they entered Brin's room, they found that there was one problem…

Brin was gone.

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"I promise I'll make it up to you, Brinny. Don't worry, Brinny. Don't you worry. I got you out of that place, and we're never going back. Zack will make sure to get rid of your records and your blood and they'll never have proof that you ever existed. They'll never find us. I promise I'll make it up to you, Brinny," promised Ben again and again, stroking Brin's head with one hand and steering his stolen car with the other. "We're going to Manticore, and we're gonna get that antidote, and it'll all be okay again. I promise."

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"Where is she?" seethed Zack as Jondy ran toward the open window.

Syl went to the hospital bed and pulled back the covers. "It was Ben," she declared with a hint of dread in her voice.

"How do you know?" asked Zack, turning to her.

The blonde X5 held up a small card with the Blue Lady on it.

"Shit, Zack, we gotta find them!" Jondy shut the window. "I knew something wasn't right with Ben… Where would they go?"

"We gotta get out of here first," said Zack in his CO voice. "Syl, call Krit and find out if he's seen them. Tinga, go start up the truck. Jondy, come with me." He pulled a handgun from his jacket and tossed it to her. "We're going to look at the security tapes."

"Zack, they'll be on us in like two minutes," reasoned Syl worriedly. "We need you guys to take this out."

"Go!" barked Zack. "Jondy, _now!"_

Shooting an unsure expression to her sisters, Jondy ran after him. They pushed and shoved their way down the crowded hospital corridor, spinning doctors and knocking over patients. Zack paused for half a second to look at a map of the hospital hanging on the wall, then continued running. It was two floors up. They took the emergency stairs and were standing outside a door marked SECURITY around thirty seconds later. Producing another gun from his jacket, Zack casually kicked open the door and burst in yelling, "Down! I want you on the ground! Get down!"

The three security guards were on the floor in milliseconds. They were obviously not paid enough to deal with a six-foot, armed maniac.

"Get their weapons and handcuff them," ordered Zack as he went to the computer screens. He accessed the parking lot feed from the past twenty to ten minutes while Jondy silently took the tasers, night sticks, and teargas cans from the guards.

"Sorry, guys, family emergency," she whispered as she handcuffed them together. "You understand."

"Got it. Jondy." Zack waited until Jondy was behind him, then played the clip. For a few seconds there was no activity in the lot, then a pickup truck zoomed into view. It screeched into a space and a man got outside. He was easily recognizable as Ben by his hair and clothes. Ben ran inside. "Now, forward a little bit…" The clip sped up and, three minutes after he went inside, Ben burst back out of the hospital with a woman in his arms—Brin. Placing her in the passenger seat, he practically threw himself into the driver's side and was speeding away before he could close the door. The truck went to the end of the lot and, without missing a beat, swerved left, narrowly avoiding a bus and minivan.

"He's going to Manticore," breathed Jondy. "I know he is."

"Then we best get moving." Zack stood and looked at her. At the look on her face, he softened and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah… I just… don't know what to think… How long has Ben been like this?" she whispered, running her fingers through her hair in a nervous fashion.

"For awhile now. I didn't want to tell you guys because I thought I could fix him." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "We gotta go, Jon. If he gets to Manticore before we do, it'll be the end of both of them."

Jondy took a deep breath and set her jaw. "Let's get to it, then."

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As they were hurrying out the front door, the transgenics noticed a group of policemen talking to the nurses at the front desk. Inherently, this was not a good sign. Nevertheless, Zack brushed his concerns aside and they ran out the front door just as one of the officers turned and yelled, "You! Hey you! Get back here!"

Jondy bowled over an officer standing near a patrol car and punched another one trying to get his gun out of its holster. Pitiful. They arrived at Tinga's SUV and all but leapt inside. Tinga started it up and flew backwards, smashing the patrol cars into one another. Then, wheels screaming, she sped out of the parking lot.

"Left!" yelled Zack at the last possible moment, forcing Tinga to almost swerve into oncoming traffic. The SUV's rear fender was brushed by a semi, jolting the passengers and causing the SUV to nearly spin out of control. By now, the police cars had recovered and were on their way, sirens blaring. Tinga looked at Zack and grinned. "Nothing like an X5's suburban, eh?" She hit the gas and the SUV lurched into action with the patrol cars right behind them.

"Krit said that he lost Ben and Brin on the highway. They were definitely heading for Manticore, and Ben is driving like a maniac," explained Syl. "He's meeting us at the next entrance ramp."

"We can't stop for him," declared Tinga with a glance in her rearview mirror. "The pigs are on us."

"He knows," replied Syl. "Open the sunroof."

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Krit watched the chase unfold with a smug grin. The police were converging on Tinga's maroon suburban, occasionally making an attempt to fishtail or body slam it. Every now and then, a head would poke out of the suburban's windows and fire a few warning shots at the coppers, but he could tell his siblings weren't making a real effort to piss off the cops—not until they got him, anyway. He shook his head. If it weren't for the whole Ben-kidnaps-Brin situation, this would be fun. Well… what he was about to do was _sure_ to be fun.  He stood as the SUV approached with a patrol car on either side. There was no way all three vehicles were going up that entrance ramp. He waited for Tinga to make a move and, true to his expectations, she did.

First, she swerved to the left. The patrol car on that side was pushed farther and farther to the left and, before he could recover enough to push back, the right side of his front fender struck a light post. In a teeth-clenching roar of bending metal and shattering glass, the police car's front end froze while its back end lurched to one side, nearly flipping the vehicle, and then lay still.

The police car on the right, in retaliation, tried to slam the SUV. Tinga hit the gas and sped ahead just as the car tried to hit her. The squad car was moving so fast that it passed onto the left side of the suburban and off of the road. The car hit a tree stump and flipped into the air.

Krit stepped forward as the suburban approached. Five… four…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't see him!" yelled Tinga.

"He's there," insisted Syl from the backseat.

Tinga opened her mouth to say something more, but suddenly—BOOM! The roof of the truck suddenly bent downward over Jondy's head, inciting a terrified yelp from the X5. Milliseconds later, a pair of booted feet slipped into the sunroof, followed by the rest of Krit. Syl grabbed a belt loop of his jeans and jerked him into the seat next to her.

"Krit! You son of a bitch!" shouted Tinga as she went up the entrance ramp. "What the fuck are you thinking?!"

"Hey, not like I had a lot of choices. Drive!" replied Krit with a smirk. He hugged Syl and kissed her forehead. "I'm okay, baby."

Zack turned around in his seat to gauge the police position. "I think they're backing off now. Scared the shit out of them."

"We do what we have to," mumbled Tinga. She crossed into the left lane. "So now what?"

"I suggest you drive fast and don't stop. Ben'll be there in a few hours at the rate he was going," warned Krit as he slung an arm over Syl's shoulders.

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Several hours later, Tinga pulled to a stop outside a looming forest. The sun was rising now, tinting the sky directly overhead light blue. Solemn and silent, the X5s stepped out of the Suburban. They stood shoulder to shoulder, all eyes fixed on the dark forest in front of them.

"So this is what it's come to," breathed Tinga. "This is… it."

Jondy looked at Zack, who was standing beside her. His jaw was set, his muscles tense and his eyes narrowed. Against her better judgment, she cautiously intertwined her fingers with his. When she got absolutely no reaction, she was unsure whether to be pleased or heartbroken… so she just took what she got.

"And it starts," muttered Krit before striding headlong into the forest. Close on his heels was Syl, then Tinga.

Zack then turned to Jondy and whispered, "Can you do something for me, Jon?"

"Hm?" Jondy raised her eyebrows.

"If something happens to me in there, I want you to watch over the others. You know what to do," instructed the burly X5 with narrowed eyes.

Jondy felt her heart drop and was ashamed by it. She was hoping for something more… romantic… "Of course, Zack," mumbled the female X5, dropping her hand away from Zack's and moving toward the woods. Tears were stinging her blue eyes and she pawed at them angrily. _Damn him_.

"Wait."

The single word made Jondy stop dead in her tracks. She felt a hand on her shoulder and let herself be spun around to face Zack. He was so close she could feel his breath drift over her face. His mouth smelled like ginger and the rest of him smelled like motorcycle exhaust and burnt leather. Jondy watched as his head dipped and the space between the lips suddenly narrowed to nothing. Heart leaping into her throat, she instinctively raised her arms to his neck while his hands traveled down to her hips. There they stayed for a small eternity, before the sound of Krit's voice calling their names broke the moment.

Zack turned away, then rested his forehead against hers. "No matter what happens to me in there, I will always come back to you."

Jondy bit her lip and smiled. "I love you, Zack."

He nodded, but said nothing in reply before disappearing into the trees.

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Note: Okay, I apologize for the long period between updates, but I'm really disappointing myself with how this story is turning out. Grrr. The words are just not coming to me.


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